so I've finally got my newly-acquired vintage Riviera up to speed, and of course I'm loving it. I have been using my teeny tiny OE Caravel tamper so far, and it gets the job done, more or less. I'm ready to invest in a properly sized tamper, but since the machine itself was virtually free, I don't think it's worth it to spend much. I'm looking at a Vaneli's rosewood handle tamper (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0006Q5YRW) or the orphan espresso stainless one-piece dealy (http://www.orphanespresso.com/OE45-HLE- ... _1825.html).

of course I always like to support the Garrotts, but that would mean an extra $15 and waiting several more weeks for them to get back from Taiwan. Customer loyalties aside, can anyone speak to the differences in quality between these two specifically? Seems to me that the spring lever appreciates a light tamp, therefore the tamper I use probably doesn't make much difference, but I would like it to feel comfortable in the hand none the less. Of course the OE model is more attractive, but I'm trying to keep costs down. (and if I am super successful at that latter aspect in the long run, I hope someday to invest in either a pharos or a lido 2, so, there's your loyalty.)

I can't really speak to the differences between those two, but the 45 mm rosewood tamper looks very much like the 51 mm rosewood tamper that came with my Gaggia Factory. I use this tamper on both the Factory and the Faema Faemina and it works great, should work fine for your Riviera too.

I use the stock Bakelite 45 mm convex tamper that came with my La Peppina and really like it too. It's much smaller and more of a finger tamper which suits the La Peppina.

OE stubby tamper is good too. OE tampers are all to the same tolerances, so I'll speak to that one, and the vanellis. I prefer the OE, its much lighter, and more useful for careful tamping, and if you care to try nutating, the shorter piston helps. In general its a slightly more precise fit. Vanellis is heavy and feels like a traditional tamp, probably good for heavy tamping, and fine for puck dressing, just more cumbersome. Both are incredibly durable, and will probably last forever. While the OE handle is fine, but I wouldn't mind it in wood. OE also has a Penney tamper in 45mm, which I can only imagine is excellent.

When I first bought a restored Ponte Vecchio Lusso from OE, the kit came with a solid wood Thor 45mm tamper. There was an issue with that original Lusso, so Doug had it shipped back to him, and I opted for one of the new Lussos they were selling at the time. I asked Barb if I could separately buy the tamper (and chopped 45mm PF). Glad I did. The Thor tampers are just a pleasure to use. Mine is gorgeous - made from African bubinga wood. I just checked, and it looks like Les has one 45mm tamper right now that I'd recommend you consider. More pricey, but they just seem to be the right solution for a vintage lever.

http://www.thortamper.com/45mm.html

I stayed away from the 45mm Vaneli tamper since I knew it would look silly. I had a 53mm tamper and always thought it looked silly with it's small base compared to the 58mm tampers I saw in pictures, so imagine what 45mm would look like. For example, see this: http://s907.photobucket.com/user/Lacehi ... c.jpg.html

Of course, this is just my aesthetic and might not represent what others think.

I gotta say, the OE stubby tampers are simply awesome to look at and perfect to use with your thumbs (read: perfect for lighter tamps). The Garrots have a keen eye with vintage sensibilities. I remember I got impatient and tired of waiting for a yellow stubby so got some other tamper. Eventually bought a stubby. So ended up spending more. The stubby is basically the same price as the Vaneli but you just have to wait.

I don't want to be presumptuous about your financial situation but looking at the gear you have I find it hard to believe that 15 bucks would be a deal breaker if the HLE is really the design you want (second what Brandon says about using OE tampers). However, if you don't want to wait, I can understand that.

Thanks everybody for chiming in! I think I've made up my mind, after running through the input here....

yakster wrote:I use this tamper on both the Factory and the Faema Faemina and it works great, should work fine for your Riviera too.... I use the stock Bakelite 45 mm convex tamper that came with my La Peppina and really like it too. It's much smaller and more of a finger tamper which suits the La Peppina.

Hmmm... Is your Peppina the open-boiler kind? Seems like open-boilers more than any other machine enjoy a light fingertip tamp. The Factory is a spring lever -- do you tamp it vigorously? I'm finding my riviera & caravel to be similar in their success with lighter tamping. (I haven't gotten into a fully-manual closed-boiler lever yet.)

pacificmanitou wrote:OE stubby tamper is good too... I prefer the OE, its much lighter, and more useful for careful tamping, and if you care to try nutating, the shorter piston helps. In general its a slightly more precise fit. OE also has a Penney tamper in 45mm, which I can only imagine is excellent.

I do like the stubby for the Caravel. I'm not a nutator but I do use my thumb and fingertips. At any rate I'm certainly a sucker for a precision fit. This was a problem I always had with my Livietta PF and tamper, so I know I'll be forever frustrated if it's not the best possible fit. With my Livietta I did end up buying a second tamper but I didn't like it either, so I went back to the first and adopted a habit of running a needle around the edge of my basket where (in my opinion) too much coffee remains against the basket walls after tamping. I carefully swipe it down and try to work it down evenly into the polish. I've never heard of anyone else going that far for this detail, so I've never even admitted it before. Anyway I don't think I'll be investing in a pretty Penney, if I may be so cheeky. I'm sure they're great but now's not the time.

RAS wrote:solid wood Thor 45mm tamper.... More pricey, but they just seem to be the right solution for a vintage lever.

I had actually already browsed through the Thor site, and though I agree the wood is truly gorgeous, it just doesn't go with the stainless / brass chrome & black bakelite handles on my Riviera. It's ironic as I'm really more of a wood-style guy, overall. Yet even the rosewood handle seems borderline too woody, although the stainless base might make it passable. Anyway the Thor tampers are inevitably more than I want to spend. And frankly I'm not that jazzed about that blonde olivewood either way.

beer&mathematics wrote: it looked silly with it's small base

That's a very good point, I hadn't considered that the handle would be the same and that only the base would be smaller. It would a bit pin-like. Kinda awkward I guess. And again, I'm realizing the wood just doesn't go with the rest. Another reason I'm not considering a Penny.

beer&mathematics wrote: OE stubby tampers are simply awesome to look at and perfect to use with your thumbs (read: perfect for lighter tamps).

That does seem to be the consensus forming here. It's funny that to this point I hadn't given much thought to a stubby for the riviera, but now I'm actually leaning that way.

beer&mathematics wrote:looking at the gear you have I find it hard to believe that 15 bucks would be a deal breaker... if you don't want to wait, I can understand that.

Ha, I take this as a compliment to my crafty buying/fixing/selling schemes over the years. The Caravel was a splurge, I admit, but much less so when I got it as compared to today, and I did sell off my Saeco to mute the burn a bit. Then a few years ago I scooped up a commercial 1-group for $100 from a lazy restaurateur, fixed & flipped it at a tidy profit, and that financed the Livietta. Vario was used; a worthy investment for sure. And if you scroll not too far back in the "bragging rights" thread, you'll see how I pretty seriously lucked into this riviera.

All that said -- I really just don't want to wait!!! But wait I will. I think I've settled on the bulb-handled semi-stubby: http://www.orphanespresso.com/OE-HLE-II ... _1991.html
I think it will feel good against the palm but still be light, short & thin-based enough for gentle fingertip precision. And the black & steel will go with the chrome & bakelite, more or less. It seems that my years of working behind commercial groups has made me partial to a hefty tamper and full-weight tamp, but this seems like a good compromise with my new guise as home-based leverhead, and pricewise, it's a few bucks less than the steel, which absolves a bit of the guilt.

I just remembered I have a La Peppina tamper you can borrow while you wait for OE to come back into business. I can pop it in the mail on Thurs (just pay for return shipping when the time comes to return it) PM me if interested.

I got a nice one from Knock:

http://www.madebyknock.com/

SpromoSapiens wrote:Hmmm... Is your Peppina the open-boiler kind? Seems like open-boilers more than any other machine enjoy a light fingertip tamp. The Factory is a spring lever -- do you tamp it vigorously? I'm finding my riviera & caravel to be similar in their success with lighter tamping. (I haven't gotten into a fully-manual closed-boiler lever yet.)

I've got a nice mix across my levers, the La Peppina is the only open boiler machine, it's gravity fed into the group and uses a spring lever. Unless I help the lever manually, the spring seems a bit light which is one of the reasons I think the La Peppina likes a light tamp. The result is nice shots with good clarity but generally thinner crema.

The Gaggia Factory is a fancy La Pavoni Pro so it's a close boiler and a manual lever. I can get really thick, creamy shots from this machine and I do tamp harder with it.

The Faema Faemina is also a closed boiler but a spring lever. I think the spring is beefier than the La Peppina so I tend to tamp a bit harder with it, I usually don't help the lever. The group is mounted to the base of the boiler so it's almost gravity fed, but it works much better with pressure behind it to feed the group.

The rosewood tamper is much heavier than the La Peppina tamper. My typical puck prep is to start with a slap shot style prep where I settle the ground by tapping the portafilter or just the basket on a hockey puck. I will then place the rosewood tamper on the puck and spin it and make sure the puck is level before tamping.

SpromoSapiens wrote:It seems that my years of working behind commercial groups has made me partial to a hefty tamper and full-weight tamp, but this seems like a good compromise with my new guise as home-based leverhead, and pricewise, it's a few bucks less than the steel, which absolves a bit of the guilt.

I used to like massively heavy tampers, but even on commercial pumps I find myself using OE slapshot tamping, which is harder with a heavy tamper, since it's own weight is more force than needed.